Radio scrappage scheme: How it works

The radio industry has launched a scrappage trade-in scheme to encourage listeners to swap their old analogue models for digital ones.

Digital love: the radio scrapage scheme's aim is to boost digital's sales

So how does the scheme work?

The initiative has been created in conjunction with a number of major electronic retailers, such as Currys, and will see customers offered a 20% discount on a digital set if they hand in an analogue model.

The aim is to persuade owners of around 100m analogue radios still in use around Britain to buy the new digital sets.

The plan has subsently drawn comparisons to last year's car scrappage scheme, which gave drivers a £2,000 subsidy when they traded in their old vehicles for new ones.

And there is also a charity element

Not only is the scheme valuable for retailers it also provides the chance for consumers to do a good deed.

The plan will involve the traded-in analogue radios being reconditioned and shipped to children in Africa to coincide with next month's World Cup soccer tournament.

The digital radio backlash

Digital currently accounts for 24% off all radio listening in Britain.

The previous Government set a target date for 2015 for a switch-off of analogue radio services. However, the criteria for the initiative involves boosting digital radio's share of the listening to more than half by 2013.

Critics of digital radio say that this undermines the popularity of analague which already has a legion of loyal FM listeners.

In some parts of the continent analogue radio sets are are the main source of communication and the BBC World Service is particularly popular.

Furthermore, opponents are also critical of digital radio citing the signal strength as a particular weakpoint. They argue that sound quality has been comprised by the increase in the number of channels.